Against Value Empiricism in Aesthetics

Australasian Journal of Philosophy 88 (4):707-720 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Value empiricists in aesthetics claim that we can explain the value of artworks by appeal to the value of the experiences they afford. I raise the question of the value of those experiences. I argue that while there are many values that such experiences might have, none is adequate to explaining the value of the works that afford the experiences. I then turn to defending the alternative to value empiricism, which I dub the object theory . I argue that if there is some problem attending the object theory, commensurate with the problems attending empiricism, no one seems to have any idea what it is. I close by urging that the object theory be granted a fresh hearing

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Artworks Are Not Valuable for Their Own Sake.Nicholas F. Stang - 2012 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 70 (3):271-280.
Two Dogmas of Analytical Philosophy.Greg Taylor - 2007 - Macalester Journal of Philosophy 16 (1):40-55.
Is Empiricism Coherent?Albert Casullo - 2000 - The Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 5:61-74.
Constructive Empiricism and Anti-Realism.Sam Mitchell - 1988 - PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1988:174 - 180.
Empiricism: Hutcheson and Hume.James Shelley - 2000 - In Berys Nigel Gaut & Dominic Lopes (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics. Routledge.
Non-perceptual aesthetic properties: Comments for James Shelley.Noël Carroll - 2004 - British Journal of Aesthetics 44 (4):413-423.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-08-21

Downloads
212 (#86,325)

6 months
34 (#89,908)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

James Shelley
Auburn University

Citations of this work

Toward a Communitarian Theory of Aesthetic Value.Nick Riggle - 2022 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 80 (1):16-30.
Aesthetic practices and normativity.Robbie Kubala - 2021 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 103 (2):408–425.
The authority of pleasure.Keren Gorodeisky - 2021 - Noûs 55 (1):199-220.
Aesthetic Hedonism and Its Critics.Servaas Van der Berg - 2020 - Philosophy Compass 15 (1):e12645.
Response-Dependence and Aesthetic Theory.Alex King - 2023 - In Chris Howard & R. A. Rowland (eds.), Fittingness. Oxford: OUP. pp. 309-326.

View all 21 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man.Thomas Reid - 1785 - University Park, Pa.: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Derek R. Brookes & Knud Haakonssen.
Art as Performance.Dave Davies - 2003 - Wiley-Blackwell.
Aesthetic value.Alan H. Goldman - 1995 - Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.
Values of art: pictures, poetry, and music.Malcolm Budd - 1996 - New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books.
The pleasures of aesthetics: philosophical essays.Jerrold Levinson - 1996 - Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

View all 35 references / Add more references